All organisms on Earth are made up of visible and hidden traits determined by combinations of genes that are inherited from parental organisms. The modern theories of genetics, developed by Gregor Mendel and perfected by many geneticists after his time, explain why each of us has unique characteristics. It is important to understand the patterns in which these genes were passed down to us in order to trace the path of our own genes. The purpose of this unit is to introduce Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, and show how his experiments paved the way for all of the laws of genetics we have today. We will begin with the macroscopic view of genetics and focus on traits that we can see passed down from parents to offspring. We will then zoom in to the microscopic view of genes on chromosomes and discuss the process of meiosis. The main concepts of this unit that will be covered are monohybrid and dihybrid crosses using Punnett squares, the process of meiosis, the inheritance of genetic disorders using pedigrees, and the Human Genome project.
This unit will be used in an honors level class, and the same material and activities will be modified for a basics level class. The lessons in this unit are meant to challenge honors students and make them think outside the box in order to understand the main concepts being covered. I will focus on engaging students in meaningful learning by connecting the material to their lives and giving many real life applications as examples. Students will be actively participating in all aspects of the unit, whether we are writing down notes, explaining concepts, or giving examples of material. This first unit will show students my high expectations of their performance and will help them get an idea of the workload I will assign each unit.
This unit will be used in an honors level class, and the same material and activities will be modified for a basics level class. The lessons in this unit are meant to challenge honors students and make them think outside the box in order to understand the main concepts being covered. I will focus on engaging students in meaningful learning by connecting the material to their lives and giving many real life applications as examples. Students will be actively participating in all aspects of the unit, whether we are writing down notes, explaining concepts, or giving examples of material. This first unit will show students my high expectations of their performance and will help them get an idea of the workload I will assign each unit.